Cassandra the Shadow
by StopLookingHere
Summary: Cassandra is stuck at Dragonspyre Academy, until she makes a daring move and finds herself smack in the middle of Ravenwood, unable to fit in or find her calling. She takes up the art of being a shadow, behind the scenes until she is needed... until one day, she's under the limelight, with a now-or-never situation. T for swearing and themes.
1. Introduction

Cassandra was bored, and there was no other way to describe it.

Dragonspyre academy had nothing to offer her. Sure, she loved what was left of the Fire School, but it wasn't her calling. She knew it. Most students who went to the academy either went to become an apprentice of someone, or became a rogue fire or death student. It was nice, but it wasn't for her.

The teacher here wasn't present today, and she didn't even know why she bothered showing up. Gathering her books, she shoved them into a small backpack that didn't seem like it could fit them at all. Thanks to magic, the backpack did.

That was something that Cassandra didn't understand, though: magic. She'd listened intently when her teacher had told her about her inner spark, and how she could tap into it, but nothing had ever happened for her. Her teacher told her that she'd come to find it one day, and sent her to the death school to try some spells from there. She almost cast a Dark Pixie… but she was violently sick and passed out before the spell was finished.

She wasn't allowed to train in Death from then on.

Walking outside of the ruined fire school, she wondered why in the spiral she was even here for what seemed like the millionth time. Two years ago, she'd been dumped here in Dragonspyre, with no memory of the last thirteen years of her life. Her birthday was in two days, and when she finally turned sixteen, she could be out of the academy.

She would be out of the academy and out of Dragonspyre.

Cassandra had a plan, a bad plan at that, but a plan nonetheless.

And she would execute it.


	2. The Death Tree

Leaning against the death tree's railing, she realized something. The last person who went rogue (which was the official term for someone who had dropped out and didn't continue with their education) was killed by Malistare. That was the tricky part of getting out of Dragonspyre Academy. Malistare somehow knew everything that went on with the academy.

Despite this, Cassandra was confident that her plan would work. Malistare had been especially lax lately, ever since he'd disappeared and was said to be "travelling." Papers had stopped arriving in Dragonspyre, and something was restless under the very ground she stood on. Nobody was going to pay attention to a measly academy wizard sneaking away.

Her plan involved simply walking out, jumping through the portal to the Bascilla, and running up the ramp to the mysterious spiral door and finding out exactly how it would get her out of this place. She had no idea what the spiral door did, but it took her professor in and out of Dragonspyre, so if he could use it, why couldn't she?

"Cassandra?" A voice came from behind her.

She froze. "Yes?"

"Why does such a pretty girl like you look so sad?" The death tree of the academy was a creep. End of story. Cassandra had always felt very uncomfortable around the tree, preferring Ashley the fire tree's warming branches to keep her company.

"It's none of your business," she replied, already irritated with the way he spoke to her. It took her a few moments to realize that it wasn't just the way he spoke to her—it was that he actually spoke! "Sir Death tree, aren't you supposed to be, y'know, mute?"

The death tree gave a deep throated laugh. "Oh, but my master is out in a place where he cannot control me… somewhere deep inside a tree of its own… full of life and children…"

She shook her head. Talking to the Death Tree was going to irritate her further.

"You know," the tree drawled. "If I were human again, your pretty face wouldn't be so sad."

"Oh?"

"Yes, it would be so happy… so pleasured…" Somehow, the tree smiled a smile that didn't quite meet its eyes. "You wouldn't be as quiet either… there would be a lot more coming from your small mouth…"

Cassandra looked at the innuendo spewing tree in the eye, before deliberately spitting into his roots.

"Fuck off," she said quietly before walking away to her home in one of the many ruined towers that lined the street.


	3. Preparation

**This was very short. I like to divvy chapters up by what they contain, rather than word count. I apologize if you have slow internet and cannot load many chapters at a time.**

* * *

At home, Cassandra took extra consideration of what went into her worn backpack.

Firstly, she needed a weapon. When she arrived at the academy, she had two possessions: a small green gem that fit in the palm of her hand, and a katana that was inscribed faintly with the name Oyotomi. The katana would do as a weapon, though she had never used it or even taken it out of its protective scabbard.

Next, was the issue of her attire: clean robes, that weren't stained with soot or look-at-me fiery red, were difficult to come by at any time. She took a tunic she'd received from the death school, entirely black, and folded it. A matching pair of boots adorned her feet. She decided against a hat, because most hats were simply decorative and flew off her head anyways.

She collected some food. What was left of the Ambrosia she was given when she came here to replenish her health. Some wheat crackers, cheese, submarine sandwiches, and meat soup took its place in her bag, sealed away in stone thermoses and crystal bins for later eating. For jokes, she grabbed her spell deck and slipped the green gem into the pocket of her tunic.

She was ready.

Walking out of her home at night was an easy task. No monsters prowled the academy, or anywhere that the trees and instructors resided.

Bracing herself, Cassandra reached the end of the street and took a deep breath before looking up at the glowing portal. It was now or never, so she put the straps of the backpack over her shoulders, and stepped in.


	4. Cyrus Drake

The first thing that Cassandra noticed as she landed face down on the cold stone was that there was a man juggling a wand back and forth in the center of a room, and that there was a hole blown in the side of the room. Two other portals were here, too, as well as a ramp that leads downwards and another one that lead upwards.

She frowned. _Who is that man, _she wondered, _with the angry expression? He almost looks like Malistare. _

"Dare I ask, what is a student of Dragonspyre Academy doing off campus?" He sneered, staring past her disposition and straight to her motivation. "Hoping to go find your master Malistare?"

Cassandra gulped. "No, sir, I was hoping to leave."

The man frowned. "Who are you? Get up."

She got off the floor hastily, grabbing the side of the wall for support. "I am Cassandra, a student here. Who are you?"

"I am Cyrus… Drake," he said grudgingly .That_ explained the similarity! _"You wish to get out of the academy? Where are you going to go, hide in the library?"

She shook her head. "No, I want to go through that door up there."

Cyrus Drake stared at her for a long time before smiling. "Well, as a professor, it is my job to teach. Let me teach you how to use the Spiral Door."

We walked up the ramp, or I should say that he strode and I scurried behind him. Soon, we faced the door, and he taught me how to focus myself on the place I wanted to go before stepping inside.

"Now, I must warn you, Cassandra," he started as he opened the door to a place that showed a large, green chamber full of wizards. "This place I am taking you is called Wizard City. They do not take too kindly to wizards from Dragonspyre, so you must be on your utmost best behavior. When you get there, ask to see Merle Ambrose. He will set you on the correct path."

"Thank you," Cassandra said. She waved with a wiggle of her pointer finger, a way she had always known despite it never been used with her. "I hope to see you again one day."

When she stepped through the door, she looked behind her, to see a very confused face of Cyrus Drake. Before she could ask, she was engulfed by the white light of teleportation.

Cyrus Drake had not seen that wave in thirteen years.


	5. Welcome to Wizard City?

When the white light faded to lush green and muted browns, Cassandra opened her eyes.

Just like the spiral door had shown her, this was a place that seemed to be inside of a tree. It must have been the Spiral Chamber that Cyrus told her about. There were students all around her, but something was wrong.

They had all frozen, silenced by her entrance. What had gone wrong? Did the freeze time?

"Uh… hello?" Cassandra asked tentatively.

A girl with a tall, pointed hat, long robes with a blue tassel attached, and cloth wrapped around their feet stepped forward. The outfit was color-coordinated, black with red trim. She had silver hair drawn back in a ponytail and slanted purple eyes.

"What are you doing here?" The girl asked in a flat tone.

"Can you take me to a man called Merle Ambrose?" She avoided the question.

"I asked," the girl walked up to her until she was nearly nose to nose with Cassandra. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"

"I ran from Dragonspyre." At the mention of her world, many students backed up and some gasped.

"Get away from her!" Someone shouted. "She's from _his _world! She's probably going to kill us all! Look, she's even got a sword!"

Cassandra wildly shook her head, and held her palms open in front of her as the crowd suddenly began to surge forward. Someone screamed and panic broke loose. She completely lost her footing and felt her backpack torn from her, her boots ripped from her feet and hands on her sword. She wildly grasped it, unhooking its sheath from her belt and giving its taker a good whack in the face before hugging it to her chest. The crowd still surged forward on her, kicking her and laughing as they cast stun spells and burning spells.

Eventually, the people stopped, letting her breathe as they went back to whatever they did in this seemingly cruel world. Cassandra lay there in the back of the Spiral Chamber room, wondering why Cyrus Drake would send her here, and wondering if she could just lay there forever…


End file.
